“Ma’am,” Adrian said respectfully. “I saw the suspect’s sister at the station, and I can confirm that she was in some of the photos we found on Renzo’s computer. It looked obvious to me that she was drugged and not a willing participant in a consensual act.”
“Oh,” the prosecutor said. “I want to do the right thing here, Detectives. I just don’t want to lose the confidence of the people who elected me.”
She wanted to give in, but needed an incentive to force her hand. “Ma’am, the media is going to be all over this case when they get word of it.” Thanks to me, I was pretty certain it would happen within twenty-four hours. “How do you think your constituents will feel when they find out that Thom Renzo had every intention of causing great harm to one of their favorite residents?” Hell, I’d only lived in Blissville a few weeks and I saw how much people loved Maegan. “There are times when we need to pick a battle, and crusading against Jessica Hansen probably isn’t the one I’d stake my career on.”
Prosecutor Buxton crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow. “Because I’m a woman?” I knew that Jessica’s fate could be determined by my answer. She stood a better chance with a jury of local peers, people who could relate to her.
“Because you’re human, ma’am.”
She closed her eyes and breathed deeply into her lungs. “Okay, I’ll make the necessary calls to law enforcement officials to let them know that we’re waiving extradition so she can be tried there.”
“Thank you,” Adrian and I said in relief.
“You better hope this doesn’t come back to ruin my career.” She made shooing motions with her hands. “Get on out of here so I can prepare a statement. I want to go public with my decision before the details of the case are leaked to the press.”
We left her office at once.
“Media, huh?” Adrian asked once we were back in his car. “Is that what you said to the mother?”
“Yeah, I told her to call a reporter.” I released a breath of relief. It had been a long fucking day, but I was glad to have the case behind me. It was too bad that I couldn’t say the same thing for Jessica and Kayla.
I got to go home and hold Maegan in my arms knowing that she was safe and healthy. It could be a very long time before Jessica breathed as a free woman and Kayla would never be the same. I prayed like hell that she took comfort knowing that Renzo couldn’t hurt her or anyone else again, but she’d never get over what happened to her. I hoped she could find peace and realize that her life was worth living.
“I thought it might give her a fighting chance at a lesser sentence and bring shame down on the officer who allowed Thom to continue on like nothing happened without even talking to the guy,” I explained.
“We can hope that Mr. Titus gets hit with a class action lawsuit,” Adrian said. “What a fucking douche.” He shook his head in disgust then said, “I can’t wait to get home and hug my wife and kids. They remind me why I do this job.”
“Same here,” I replied. Adrian’s brow rose high on his forehead. “Well, not the wife and kids part; I’m not living a double life. I meant I’m ready to give Maegan a tight squeeze.” And so much more. “She’s doing dinner with her friends tonight though, so it will be a while.”
“You want to come over and have dinner with us? You can borrow my wife,” Adrian offered. It was my turn to give him a questioning look. “Not like that, jackass.”
“Nah,” I answered. “I really appreciate it, and I’ll definitely take you up on that offer another night, but I think I’ll just decompress and sort out how I want to break the news to Maegan. I can’t let her read about this in the paper or see it on the news.”
“Town gossip is a terrible thing. Hell, news of Jessica’s arrest probably beat us back to Blissville,” Adrian told me.
“Let’s hope not,” I replied.
When we got to the station, we gave the captain a quick rundown of everything that transpired. He agreed with the prosecutor’s decision to let Jessica be tried in Kentucky. He too offered to feed me when my stomach growled loudly to protest the way I neglected it, and I declined his invitation also.
I could heat up soup or leftover pizza from the night before and bide my time until Maegan got back from visiting with her friends. Now that the threat against her was past, I knew we’d return to living separately. I was going to miss her like hell on the nights we slept apart, but I wanted to do right by Maegan.
I saw the lights on in the back of my house as I pulled into the driveway. I knew that I hadn’t left them on and Maegan’s SUV wasn’t in her driveway. My first thought was that someone wanting to get even on Axel Washington’s behalf was paying me a visit. I wouldn’t expect them to leave the lights on and advertise that, but criminals weren’t always the brightest people in the galaxy.
I pulled my gun out of my holster and kept it trained in front of me until I got through the front door. Lulu bounded over to me happily, wagging her nub and barking out a greeting. I holstered my gun when I heard Maegan humming in the kitchen at the rear of the house. I sniffed the air and my mouth watered over the delicious aroma of Mexican food wafting through my house.
I found Maegan doing a cute little dance when I entered the room. She was wearing a pair of pajama pants that had roosters all over them. When she turned around, I was too busy staring at her unbound breasts to realize what her shirt said right away. In the middle of her chest was a big rooster and the words above it said: Cock Addict.
“Hey there, handsome,” she said, smiling happily. She looked beautiful with her curly hair hanging loose and soft over her shoulders and not a drop of makeup on her face. Both her smile and pert nipples welcomed me home, and I realized just how badly I wanted to get used to finding her in my house after a long day.
